Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Specials

Snickerdoodles are one of my absolute favorite kinds of cookies. The ones that are soft and chewy are the absolute best. I'm not one for crunchy, hard cookies, especially when it comes to my snickerdoodles! These tasty treats are good to eat at any time of the year.

I'm an absolute sucker for almost anything cinnamon. I've made these classic cookies so many times over the years and finally have the perfect recipe for them. I add a special, secret ingredient to my recipe. It makes them even tastier and more wonderful.

The secret ingredient? Nutmeg. Another spice I adore. Just a bit adds a whole other depth of flavor to the cookies. It ups the deliciousness factor, which I'd never thought was even possible with the already-awesome snickerdoodle! Like all my recipes, they are simple to make as well. When you have kids, there simply isn't time to spend too long baking or cooking anything.

I whipped up a big batch of these to give to family, friends, neighbors, A's coworkers, and M2's aide and therapists. Everyone who has tried them so far has deemed them to be "cookie crack" and gobbled them up. These aren't cookies that are going to sit around uneaten!

Once these are baked, package them up in an air-tight container and they'll stay fresh for weeks. Perfect for making ahead at the holidays!

Other Cookie Recipes
Be sure to check out my recipes for these other great holiday cookie treats:
Big & Chewy Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Meltaway Spritz Butter Cookies
Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies (Coming soon!)
Best-Ever Peanut Butter Blossoms

Baking Tricks
These are the silicone baking mats I use for cookies and LOVE. They are also great for cooking chicken and other foods in the oven. The baking sheets hold up well, I've had my set for a few years now. I'd be lost without my KitchenAid mixer, attachments and a good set of wooden spoons, too!

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Specials

by The Stay-at-Home Life

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert cinnamon nutmeg Christmas Hanukkah Thanksgiving cookie comfort food fall spring summer winter

6076133

Ingredients (4 dozen)

For dough

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temperature

For Rolling Mixture

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• You can adjust the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Instructions

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and nutmeg until light and fluffy

In another bowl, mix salt, cream of tartar, baking soda and flour

Add dry mixture to wet mixture slowly, mixing continually, until well blended

Chill dough in the fridge 30 minutes

Combine the rolling mixture of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Form dough into 1.5" balls

Roll balls through rolling mixture

Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart

Put remaining dough back in the fridge

Bake cookies for 9 minutes, just until set and ever so slightly starting to get golden around the edges

Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes

Remove cookies from cookie sheet and cool the rest of the way on cooling rack

Once cooled, put in baggies or an air-tight container. Cookies will stay soft and fresh for awhile so can easily be made ahead for the holidays

Please vote for me by clicking the pink banner below, then clicking the GREEN or ORANGE button on the next page to confirm the vote! Thank you!!

This post contains affiliate links.

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Specials

Snickerdoodles are one of my absolute favorite kinds of cookies. The ones that are soft and chewy are the absolute best. I'm not one for crunchy, hard cookies, especially when it comes to my snickerdoodles! These tasty treats are good to eat at any time of the year.

I'm an absolute sucker for almost anything cinnamon. I've made these classic cookies so many times over the years and finally have the perfect recipe for them. I add a special, secret ingredient to my recipe. It makes them even tastier and more wonderful.

The secret ingredient? Nutmeg. Another spice I adore. Just a bit adds a whole other depth of flavor to the cookies. It ups the deliciousness factor, which I'd never thought was even possible with the already-awesome snickerdoodle! Like all my recipes, they are simple to make as well. When you have kids, there simply isn't time to spend too long baking or cooking anything.

I whipped up a big batch of these to give to family, friends, neighbors, A's coworkers, and M2's aide and therapists. Everyone who has tried them so far has deemed them to be "cookie crack" and gobbled them up. These aren't cookies that are going to sit around uneaten!

Once these are baked, package them up in an air-tight container and they'll stay fresh for weeks. Perfect for making ahead at the holidays!

Other Cookie Recipes
Be sure to check out my recipes for these other great holiday cookie treats:
Big & Chewy Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Meltaway Spritz Butter Cookies
Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies (Coming soon!)
Best-Ever Peanut Butter Blossoms

Baking Tricks
These are the silicone baking mats I use for cookies and LOVE. They are also great for cooking chicken and other foods in the oven. The baking sheets hold up well, I've had my set for a few years now. I'd be lost without my KitchenAid mixer, attachments and a good set of wooden spoons, too!

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Specials

by The Stay-at-Home Life

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert cinnamon nutmeg Christmas Hanukkah Thanksgiving cookie comfort food fall spring summer winter

6076133

Ingredients (4 dozen)

For dough

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temperature

For Rolling Mixture

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• You can adjust the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Instructions

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and nutmeg until light and fluffy

In another bowl, mix salt, cream of tartar, baking soda and flour

Add dry mixture to wet mixture slowly, mixing continually, until well blended

Chill dough in the fridge 30 minutes

Combine the rolling mixture of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Form dough into 1.5" balls

Roll balls through rolling mixture

Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart

Put remaining dough back in the fridge

Bake cookies for 9 minutes, just until set and ever so slightly starting to get golden around the edges

Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes

Remove cookies from cookie sheet and cool the rest of the way on cooling rack

Once cooled, put in baggies or an air-tight container. Cookies will stay soft and fresh for awhile so can easily be made ahead for the holidays

Please remember to vote for me by clicking the pink banner below!

This post contains affiliate links.

Ways to Slash Your Grocery Spending

I've shared easy ways to stretch your grocery budget before (check them out if you haven't already). Now, I'm sharing even more ways that you can slash your grocery budget. None are complicated or too painful. They'll even help you eat healthier while you save.

1. Add a salad. Adding a simple salad of carrots, cucumbers and lettuce with a sprinkle of cheese and dash of dressing to each meal is healthy and helps you cut your budget. Rather than having more meat, you fill up on salad which is much cheaper. Buy the big bag of uncut carrots, a head of lettuce and a large bag of cheese for real savings. Skip the toppings that up the cost and take away from the health factor.

2. Buy fruit based on sales. Rather than simply buying what fruits look good to you that week, look at what's on sale and make that your fruit purchase for the week. The sales vary week to week so you'll end up with a good variety as well.
3. Skip the starch. This goes along with adding a salad. Pick a few meals a week to skip the rice, potatoes, etc., and have the side salad or more veggies instead.
4. Homemade pizza. Ordering out for pizza can be expensive and isn't at all healthy. Instead, make your own crust, add pizza sauce (or make your own), top it with cheese from a bulk bag and throw in some veggies to finish it off.

5. Deep freeze. Invest in a freezer so you can stock up on sale meats and freeze leftovers for in-a-pinch meals when you'd be tempted to eat out.
6. Skip the soda, juice and sugary drinks. They'll make your waistline and your budget grow. If you do drink juice, water it down.
7. Skip bottled water. The refrigerator filter or a Brita pitcher works just as well and is much cheaper.
8. Avoid buying drinks and snacks on the go. Little treats when you go out add up. Instead of splurging, bring a water bottle (not plastic if you'll be leaving it in the car) and a few healthy snacks, such as protein or granola bars or an apple. These goodies you can buy in bulk and keep on hand to grab and go.

Affiliate Links

Ways to Slash Your Grocery Spending

I've shared easy ways to stretch your grocery budget before (check them out if you haven't already). Now, I'm sharing even more ways that you can slash your grocery budget. None are complicated or too painful. They'll even help you eat healthier while you save.

1. Add a salad. Adding a simple salad of carrots, cucumbers and lettuce with a sprinkle of cheese and dash of dressing to each meal is healthy and helps you cut your budget. Rather than having more meat, you fill up on salad which is much cheaper. Buy the big bag of uncut carrots, a head of lettuce and a large bag of cheese for real savings. Skip the toppings that up the cost and take away from the health factor.

2. Buy fruit based on sales. Rather than simply buying what fruits look good to you that week, look at what's on sale and make that your fruit purchase for the week. The sales vary week to week so you'll end up with a good variety as well.
3. Skip the starch. This goes along with adding a salad. Pick a few meals a week to skip the rice, potatoes, etc., and have the side salad or more veggies instead.
4. Homemade pizza. Ordering out for pizza can be expensive and isn't at all healthy. Instead, make your own crust, add pizza sauce (or make your own), top it with cheese from a bulk bag and throw in some veggies to finish it off.

5. Deep freeze. Invest in a freezer so you can stock up on sale meats and freeze leftovers for in-a-pinch meals when you'd be tempted to eat out.
6. Skip the soda, juice and sugary drinks. They'll make your waistline and your budget grow. If you do drink juice, water it down.
7. Skip bottled water. The refrigerator filter or a Brita pitcher works just as well and is much cheaper.
8. Avoid buying drinks and snacks on the go. Little treats when you go out add up. Instead of splurging, bring a water bottle (not plastic if you'll be leaving it in the car) and a few healthy snacks, such as protein or granola bars or an apple. These goodies you can buy in bulk and keep on hand to grab and go.

Affiliate Links

Healthier, Quicker, Natural Meal Options

As a busy mom, finding time to eat, let alone time to eat healthy, can be hard. There's just no time to make a fresh, tasty breakfast or lunch for ourselves most days. We're lucky if we eat at all. Options that are quick and easy are a must. Sadly, many fast options aren't healthy ones. Sure, you can grab a microwave lunch or can of soup, but there's tons of salt crammed in there and not much nutrition. Forget about it being fresh, natural, or even having a good size portion. An hour later while you're begging the toddler to please stop banging on the walls you're likely to be hungry again.

Lucky for us moms, Fresh n' Lean is a new option that offers great, healthy food that all you have to do is heat up. I got to try some of their tasty offerings in exchange for an honest review. Each one is organic; vegan; includes nothing processed; 100 percent plant-based; free of common allergens; low in fat, salt, and sugar; gluten free; all natural; No GMOs; freshly made and -- as if that isn't enough awesomeness already -- shipped right to your front door for free.

Fresh n' Lean offers a variety of options to suit your tastes and needs. Plans start at only $14.99 a day (with free shipping, remember). The standard delivery plan ($27.99 a day) offers three meals for under $10 each. There are even family plans. I love that the packages the food comes in are recycled and recyclable. Each entree is specially packed to remove extra air so the food stays fresh. Your order is shipped over night in a special box with ice so it is some seriously fresh food. If you're not going to eat them by the use by date, which is surprisingly long considering how fresh the food is, you can freeze it for later. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner options are available in plans or ala carte so you can pick what works best for you.

In my delivery I got ragu pasta, cauliflower and black beans with yams, hearty granola, Italian veggies and quinoa, coconut yellow curry with veggies and rice, banana walnut muffins, mixed berry chia pudding, and sweet potato bowl with creamy mushrooms. How tasty does that sound? Each individual package lists all the calorie, nutrition, and ingredient info. The Fresh n' Lean folks aren't kidding. Everything is nutrient rich and healthy with fresh ingredients, no fillers, no odd stuff, and no junk. All I need to do is pull off the wrap, dump it on a plate, and throw it in the microwave. A few minutes later, it's time to eat. The containers are microwaveable, I just prefer to not heat plastic.

The size of the portions is more than I expected. Some of the meals I couldn't finish so saved some for later. My favorites are the hearty granola and cauliflower black beans and rice, though all are delish. M2 fought me for the granola, which has maple syrup, almonds, and walnuts with the oats. I usually hate those nuts, yet can't get enough of this granola. The flavor is just so good and the nuts are just right.

All the dishes are filling, cooked just right, and just plain tasty. I have to confess, the cauliflower black beans and rice is so good that I ate it slow just to make it last longer. After one of these, I didn't even need to eat again until the next meal. No snacks needed! (Which is really saying something, since I'm a major snacker.)

Sadness occurred after all my meals were eaten. I can't wait to get more and try out some of the other options, such as the Mediterranean, Continental, Asian, and South American cuisines.

I totally suggest you give Fresh n' Lean a try yourself! Just for The Stay-at-Home Life readers, get 15 percent off your order when you enter the coupon code SAHLIFE at checkout.


I received a variety of dishes at no cost in exchange for this unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Your experiences may differ.

Three Cheese Turkey Lasagna

One thing A always makes is ziti. For a change, I had him try out lasagna recently. It was so tasty and easy to make. His recipe makes enough for us all to have dinner, A to have lunch for four days, and for me or M2 to have it for lunch once. We had mixed greens salad and French bread on the side. A perfect, filling, dinner of comfort food.

A's Three Cheese Turkey Lasagna

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 T each of garlic and onion powder
• 1 large jar spaghetti sauce or two regular size jars
• 1 can tomato paste
• Half box whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 small container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 9x13 glass pan, sprayed with non-stick spray

Mix garlic and onion power into ground turkey

Brown ground turkey

Stir together ground turkey, spaghetti sauce, and tomato paste

Cook lasagna noodles per instructions on box

Place 1/4 of the lasagna noodles in bottom of 9x13 glass pan

Layer 1/3 sauce mixture, then provolone (end to end across pan)

Layer 1/4 of the noodles, then 1/3 sauce mixture, then ricotta

Layer 1/4 of the noodles then remaining sauce mixture

Layer remaining noodles and finish with mozzarella on top

Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted and golden, about 45 minutes

Enjoy!

Three Cheese Turkey Lasagna

One thing A always makes is ziti. For a change, I had him try out lasagna recently. It was so tasty and easy to make. His recipe makes enough for us all to have dinner, A to have lunch for four days, and for me or M2 to have it for lunch once. We had mixed greens salad and French bread on the side. A perfect, filling, dinner of comfort food.

A's Three Cheese Turkey Lasagna

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 T each of garlic and onion powder
• 1 large jar spaghetti sauce or two regular size jars
• 1 can tomato paste
• Half box whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 small container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 9x13 glass pan, sprayed with non-stick spray

Mix garlic and onion power into ground turkey

Brown ground turkey

Stir together ground turkey, spaghetti sauce, and tomato paste

Cook lasagna noodles per instructions on box

Place 1/4 of the lasagna noodles in bottom of 9x13 glass pan

Layer 1/3 sauce mixture, then provolone (end to end across pan)

Layer 1/4 of the noodles, then 1/3 sauce mixture, then ricotta

Layer 1/4 of the noodles then remaining sauce mixture

Layer remaining noodles and finish with mozzarella on top

Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted and golden, about 45 minutes

Enjoy!

Dressed Up Black Beans and Rice

Black beans and rice is an incredibly easy staple meal. It's healthy and fairly cheap to boot, making it great for an end-of-month recipe when the grocery budget is almost maxed out. My way of making it adds a bit more flavor and makes it a one-pot meal, veggies included. The recipe leaves you enough for leftovers for lunches or dinners for a few days. Buying a big bag of black beans, instead of canned gives the meal a better texture and saves you some cash. It's also healthier as canned beans can have added salt. The same goes for bag rice vs. instant.

Dressed Up Black Beans and Rice

• 1 lb. black beans, from bag not can
• 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 lb. frozen green pepper and onion mix
• 8 servings long grain enriched white rice

Soak the black beans in a pot over night then cook beans per instructions on bag.
Rinse then prepare rice per instructions on bag.
Brown sausage in a skillet.  
Heat green peppers and onions in microwave, 5 minutes.
Combine all ingredients in a large pot.
Serve and enjoy!

Dressed Up Black Beans and Rice

Black beans and rice is an incredibly easy staple meal. It's healthy and fairly cheap to boot, making it great for an end-of-month recipe when the grocery budget is almost maxed out. My way of making it adds a bit more flavor and makes it a one-pot meal, veggies included. The recipe leaves you enough for leftovers for lunches or dinners for a few days. Buying a big bag of black beans, instead of canned gives the meal a better texture and saves you some cash. It's also healthier as canned beans can have added salt. The same goes for bag rice vs. instant.

Dressed Up Black Beans and Rice

• 1 lb. black beans, from bag not can
• 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 lb. frozen green pepper and onion mix
• 8 servings long grain enriched white rice

Soak the black beans in a pot over night then cook beans per instructions on bag.
Rinse then prepare rice per instructions on bag.
Brown sausage in a skillet.  
Heat green peppers and onions in microwave, 5 minutes.
Combine all ingredients in a large pot.
Serve and enjoy!

M's Freezer-Only Challenge

The freezer, complete with ominous lighting.

Last night when I went down to pull out meat from our upright freezer for the next few days' dinners, I got a surprise. Frozen meat and fruit came flying from the selves, attacking me as I tried to wrestle a small package from the freezer's icy grip. The meat I'd found on sale the past few weeks had led the freezer with organized stacks to become one where it was a danger to remove anything. I'd also noticed our credit card bill (unrelated to the meat buying) was higher than the budget allows. The freezer is an organizational and budget pitfall for many of us.

Suddenly, a light bulb (along with the alarm letting me know the freezer had been open too long) went on. I could solve two problems at once-- save money and clear out the freezer some. It would also mean a fun challenge to set for myself.

Thus, the Freezer-Only Challenge was born. What is this challenge you ask? Why, to only cook with meat pulled from the freezers (we have two) the next month. No buying more to freeze or use fresh. My month started January 23, the day of my last shopping trip. I'm not including fruit and other frozen items in this no-buy challenge as we don't have much of those.

Over these next weeks, I'll resist the temptation of grabbing meat at the grocery store that's a great price. That's hard for me as with soaring meat prices, sales are so important to keep the family fed without going broke. I'll just have to remind myself that really, there's no more room. That and I'll just be under attack again if I keep filling the freezer. Trust me, a bag of frozen chicken falling on your head as beef falls on your foot isn't fun at all. My goal is to end the month with a more manageable freezer that I can organize, and keep organized going forward, and a lower credit card bill.

I invite you to join me on this freezer-clearing, money-saving challenge. I'll be posting a few updates on how it's going and would love to hear about your experience (or why you don't want to take the challenge). Let me know by leaving a comment here or posting on our Facebook page.

Read the wrap up for this challenge.

Looking Ahead to 2015

A new year means new plans. New goals. New hopes. New dreams. So much new comes when the clock ticks over to midnight January 1. For me, I have a number of these for the blog, my family and myself this year.

M2 is finally old enough to start  doing more crafts. I've got a number of ideas in my head and on Pinterest I'm excited to do with her this year. Even before she was born, I was thinking of all the fun things I could do with her.

Usually, I do baking and cooking for the holidays. None of that happened last year with pregnancy and a new baby. I just wasn't up for it. My KitchenAid mixer and other fun baking gadgets, many that I've never gotten a chance to use, are torturing me with their presence, whispering, "use me! use me!" All the recipes I stock piled, from tried and true to new-and-nifty looking are on the roster for creation and sharing. Some of the baking I'll be having M2 help with. She's already showing an interest in baking.

A previous creation.

I had planned a veggie garden last spring then realized with morning sickness and pregnancy it wasn't the right time. Those plans are back. Having two kids, including a newborn, means the garden will be scaled down. Maintaining a huge one, without having experience, just doesn't seem wise. It'll go in this spring as my first attempt at putting in a garden and at growing veggies.

My budget is getting revamped after tax time to establish where we stand and figure in a fourth family member. Another year of tweaking the budget as we go is on the horizon since we've never had two kids before. Last year it changed over the first few months as we'd never had a house of our own before.

Having two kids is the biggest endeavour of the year. Learning how to raise a boy (I'm used to girls), keeping up with two kids, reaching the toddler stage, making new mom friends, finding friends for the kids, helping M2 with her speech and overall learning, keeping her active and busy, along with joining a local church to give us better roots and meet people are all current and upcoming challenges.

I'm not great at meeting new people as I'm quite shy at first and don't have the best confidence in doing it so joining a church, and joining a new mom-and-baby playgroup are more difficult for me than you'd expect. Even going to library time to meet other moms is hard--I'm not the type who can just walk up to someone and easily start a conversation. Though, oddly, in the professional world I have no problem with it. Go figure. These things are important for finding the kids friends and making my own though, so I'll be doing it.

Weight loss is a big focus of the year. I have 25 pounds of baby weight to lose (I lost about 45 so far). Before getting pregnant, I was working on losing a substational amount. Once the baby weight is off, I'm going to continue on that journey. I'm going to be looking at is as giving up extra weight as that sounds more positive and happy than having a loss.

Focusing on the positive and being more upbeat are both things on which I'm working. I'm a worrier so I tend to see all that can go wrong which can get in the way of things. So does being a perfectionist. I need to focus more on the good, rather than the things that aren't prefect. Because, let's face it, nothing in life is perfect.

The kids' clothes are organized already.

Organization is something I work on bit by bit each year. We've lived in this house for almost two years so it's overhaul time. In preparation for baby B, we cleaned out lots of stuff from the basement. Now, it needs to be organized. I've got a few organization projects on the horizon. The extra food storage already got a good clean out last week. Being able to know what we've got, what we need and that it's all easily at hand is nice. Side note: had I done it sooner, I would have known we had a solid shelf of just pasta. Should the zombie apocalypse come, we'll be eating pasta and canned veggies. Those two things alone will allow us to stay fed for quite some time.

Being a better mom is an important goal for me. I don't think I'm a bad mom, there are just things I'd like to do and be better at. For example, the finding the kids  more friends that I mentioned earlier. Family day trips are something we don't do often enough. I plan to change that. I'd also like to see the ones we do have more often. This is also part of improving myself as a person. Many little things make up these two goals.

A previous zoo trip.

Daily life is a bit rocky right now. Our schedules are still being fleshed out. I had the cooking, cleaning, child care, errands and playtime balanced pretty well previously. Getting back to that will help me be less stressed and be able to fit in some of the other plans I've mentioned. The daily activities are what we spend most of our time doing. It takes up most of our lives so I want it to be enjoyable, stress free and easy rather than hectic, disjointed and craycray. Well, at least as much as possible. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while we're busy making plans." I want to enjoy that life and those plans.

All of this will find its way onto the blog throughout the year. My goal here is to post more, bring in more traffic and grow as we get into our second year in a few months. The first year has gone great, better than expected in fact. It's important to me to keep that momentum going. You can expect more of the things we usually talk about with new topics thrown in to liven things up. K and I appreciate all our readers and are so happy you join us for our stay-at-home mommy adventures.

What's for Dinner?

This week I've got a nice, big case of cook's block. I seriously can't think of what to make for one night, let alone a week! Luckily, I've got a handy list of go-to foods I can make. Writing out the menu also helps kickstart my cooking juices. Let's see what I can come up with.

Monday
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies

Tuesday
Pork chops, couscous and veggies

Wednesday
Green salad

Thursday
Black beans, rice and ground beef with cheese

Friday
Sausages and veggies

Saturday
Herb chicken, baked potatoes and veggies

Cooking with M: What's for Dinner?

It's time again to do the menu planning for the upcoming week. You might notice a theme for Tuesdays--this day I try to have a green salad as a meatless veggie meal. I also have pasta once a week (usually without meat but this week is an exception) to have another meatless meal and because M2 loves her pasta. It's also easy and makes leftovers for A.

We also keep fresh fruit in the house for breakfasts, snacks and lunches throughout the week. M2 has fruit for breakfast every day. I base the fruit on what is on sale and looks good at the store. There's also a stash of frozen fruit and some can fruit in case we get in a fruit pinch.

This week's fruit
Apples, oranges, bananas, green and black grapes, peaches and nectarines

Saturday
Spaghetti and meatballs with side salad
Sunday
Whole roast chicken, parsley buttered potatoes and mixed veggies (I picked up a whole chicken when they were on sale, froze it and it's now defrosting)
Monday
Chicken and dumplings (I've been craving this and the whole chicken leftovers are great for this)
Tuesday
Green salad
Wednesday
Grilled cheese and soup
Thursday
Steak, baked potatoes and green beans
Friday
Leftovers

Happy Fourth of July!

Drink time under the clear blue sky.

Mmm burgers and dogs on the grill.

At our house, we spent the day with the windows wide open as a breeze comes through since it was a beautiful out. I also spent it finishing up the cleaning that didn't get done earlier this week, doing yard sale prep and giving myself a manicure and pedicure. M2 is got a pedicure to match Mama's with her Piggy Paint.
She's quite excited to have ocean blue toe nails.

This evening was our cookout with burgers and hotdogs on the new grill. While the meat was heating up, an unknown dog came running into the yard. She was very sweet and friendly. Since she had tags, I was able to figure out where she'd come from. We were about to eat so were going to take her back after, but she was crying and seemed upset (she was trying to get in to get to the cats). M2 was very upset by this so A took her back home on our cat leash. It turns out she's deaf. It's good we found her since she wouldn't have heard someone calling or a car coming down the street.

M2 eating corn with ketchup on her nose.

Our outdoor dinner on the deck included macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob and lemonade. A trip to see the fireworks didn't happen since M2 was getting tired and wild. It doesn't matter that we didn't go. It turns out there were fireworks almost in our backyard. M2 LOVED it, pointing and going, "dat! ohhh!" I think next year she'll want to see even more. Now, for the yummy pie.

One of our kitties and me.

Cooking with M: Black Beans and Rice

This is a dish I haven't made in awhile. The other day while going through the cabinets, I realized we had a big bag of black beans, rice, sausage that needed to be used up and tons of frozen peppers. Time for an easy, cheap, yummy, filling, lots-of-leftovers dinner! You can make this a meatless meal to make it even more cost effective--just leave out the sausage.

Ready to eat! Yummy.

Ingredients
1 lb. black beans, dry not canned (it's much cheaper to buy them this way, they're healthier and last longer)
8 servings rice from a large bag, not minute rice (much cheaper than instant)
1/2 lb. frozen mixed peppers
1/2 cup frozen onion
1/4 lb. Italian sausage
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. onion powder

Directions

1. Soak black beans over night, per directions on bag in a large pot
2. Cook black beans for 2 hours
3. After 2 hours, continue to cook beans while you cut up sausage into small pieces and brown it
4. As sausage browns, prepare rice according to directions on the bag
5. When rice is taken off heat, microwave frozen peppers, drain beans and let sit 
6. Add rice and sausage to pot of beans. Stir well.
7. Add in thyme, onion powder, frozen onion and heated peppers. Stir until well mixed.
8. Serve and enjoy!

A big pot of leftovers ready to chill in the fridge.

This recipe will leave you with plenty of leftovers, about 10-12 servings. If you don't want all the leftovers, you can reduce the amounts to better serve your needs. It's a really easy, filling and cheap recipe that's fairly healthy. To cut costs even more (and up the health factor), you can leave out the sausage. You don't really need it, I only added a small amount for flavor and because we had some to use up. There's plenty of protein in the beans alone. Since you've got your grains, veggies and protein all together, you don't need to worry about sides. A really enjoyed it, M2 wasn't as big of a fan. She's very keen on eating chicken right now so the beans and peppers didn't please her. 

At least she tried it. Maybe next time she'll eat it!

Cooking with M: Black Beans and Rice

This is a dish I haven't made in awhile. The other day while going through the cabinets, I realized we had a big bag of black beans, rice, sausage that needed to be used up and tons of frozen peppers. Time for an easy, cheap, yummy, filling, lots-of-leftovers dinner! You can make this a meatless meal to make it even more cost effective--just leave out the sausage.

Ready to eat! Yummy.

Ingredients
1 lb. black beans, dry not canned (it's much cheaper to buy them this way, they're healthier and last longer)
8 servings rice from a large bag, not minute rice (much cheaper than instant)
1/2 lb. frozen mixed peppers
1/2 cup frozen onion
1/4 lb. Italian sausage
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. onion powder

Directions

1. Soak black beans over night, per directions on bag in a large pot
2. Cook black beans for 2 hours
3. After 2 hours, continue to cook beans while you cut up sausage into small pieces and brown it
4. As sausage browns, prepare rice according to directions on the bag
5. When rice is taken off heat, microwave frozen peppers, drain beans and let sit 
6. Add rice and sausage to pot of beans. Stir well.
7. Add in thyme, onion powder, frozen onion and heated peppers. Stir until well mixed.
8. Serve and enjoy!

A big pot of leftovers ready to chill in the fridge.

This recipe will leave you with plenty of leftovers, about 10-12 servings. If you don't want all the leftovers, you can reduce the amounts to better serve your needs. It's a really easy, filling and cheap recipe that's fairly healthy. To cut costs even more (and up the health factor), you can leave out the sausage. You don't really need it, I only added a small amount for flavor and because we had some to use up. There's plenty of protein in the beans alone. Since you've got your grains, veggies and protein all together, you don't need to worry about sides. A really enjoyed it, M2 wasn't as big of a fan. She's very keen on eating chicken right now so the beans and peppers didn't please her. 

At least she tried it. Maybe next time she'll eat it!